Lewiston/Auburn Youth Court
Grade level: 7-12
Promising Approaches
- Instruction in Government, History, Law, and Democracy
- Service-learning and community service
- Extracurricular activities
- Simulations of Democratic Processes
Overview
Special Features
Civic Learning Goals
Evaluation Studies
Required Resources
Available Resources
Professional Development Opportunities
Snapshots of Practice in Action
Contact Information
Overview
Youth courts are programs in which youth who have committed misdemeanors or status
offenses appear before a body of their peers for sentencing. The members of the
court go through intensive training in order to evaluate the behavior and
decide appropriate dispositions. Ordinarily, youth courts deal with first-time offenders, who agree to
participate in the youth court process. They are typically sentenced to
community service, restitution, a letter of apology or some combination
thereof. Many courts operate on restorative justice principles, which emphasize
repairing harm caused by crime by involving the victim, offender and community.
Youth courts can be administered and operated by a variety of agencies within a
community, including law enforcement agencies, juvenile probation departments,
juvenile courts, private nonprofit agencies, and schools.
Youth courts have several advantages over the formal juvenile justice
system for certain types of offenders. They can deliver sentences carefully tailored
for the particular offense, speedier dispositions, and pro-social peer
pressure. They also reduce the burden on the juvenile justice system. Research
on youth courts demonstrates that youth courts can reduce recidivism rates
among juvenile offenders.
The Lewiston/Auburn Youth Court'smission is to work toward creating safer, better and stronger communities
through educating youths in restorative justice and by giving youth respondents
a second chance to be part of this safer and stronger community. Since hearing
its first case in June, 2002, the court has rendered dispositions in 58 cases,
involving: assault, burglary, criminal mischief, petty theft, receipt of stolen
property and other misdemeanor offenses. With a recidivism rate of under 10%,
which is consistent with other youth courts elsewhere in the nation, the Lewiston/Auburn Youth Court presents an
excellent model for other communities in the state that are interested in youth
court.
Special Features
Nationally, there are over 900 youth courts in operation. Though they
all have the same purpose, they differ in many ways: the structure of the
courts, the type of cases they handle, the age of youth they accept as defendants and volunteers, the
sentencing guidelines they follow, etc. The flexibility in the concept allows
stakeholders to determine the most appropriate set-up for their particular
communities.
Civic Learning Goals
Civic Knowledge
- Key principles, documents, and ideas essential to constitutional democracy
- Structures, processes, functions, branches and level of U.S. government and legal system
Civic Skills
- Critical thinking, active listening, analyzing public policies, problems and assets, and understanding multiple perspectives
- Communicating one's position through writing or speaking
Civic Dispositions
- Developing tolerance, respect, and appreciation of difference
- Developing concern with the rights and welfare of others
- Developing a belief in one's ability to make a difference
Evaluation Studies
The following publications are available online at www.youthcourt.net.
The Impact of Teen Courts on Young Offenders
Teen Courts: A Focus on Research
Findings from the OJJDP Evaluation of Teen Courts to be Released at National Youth Court Conference (Article inSpring 2002 issue of In Session)
Encouraging Findings from the OJJDP Evaluation (Article fromSummer 2002 issue of In Session)
Required Resources
Youth courts require a supportive community, a coordinating committee to oversee the
creation and funding of the court, youth volunteers, members of the legal
community to train the volunteers, space in which to operate the court, and a
coordinator to manage the court and keep records.
Available Resources
The National Youth CourtCenter, operated by the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) and funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, conducts training seminars and provides technical
assistance to help teen/youth courts develop or enhance their programs on
varying topics each year. Training has been provided on youth court guidelines,
developing and implementing new programs, restorative justice, evaluation and
grant writing, and case management software programs for youth courts. Visit
the National Youth Court website at www.youthcourt.net.
Professional Development Opportunities
See above and at www.youthcourt.net
Snapshots of the Practice in Action
Judge Paul A. Cote, Advisory to the Lewiston/Auburn Youth Court: First, from an educational point of view, those who participate as our teen judges, attorneys, and other court officers gain an appreciation of
the criminal and juvenile justice system that would be hard to replicate in any
other context. LAYC deals with real cases-actual juvenile offenders with real
victims. The weighty responsibility of dealing with real cases enhances the
learning experience for all those involved. Youth Court provides a unique
opportunity to scores of teenagers for an in depth appreciation of an important
area of law.
Second, from the perspective of the juvenile offender, Youth Court presents a
living model of the concept of restorative justice. LYAC judges sit as a panel
of three, deciding the appropriate disposition for youth offenders charged with
the less serious juvenile crimes. The dispositions tend to involve community
service work, letters of apology, essays on the detrimental effects of the
criminal behavior, and the like. There is a salutary effect simply by having
youthful offenders receive the disposition (sentence) from their peers, instead
of from an adult judge. We have had excellent success in that a very low
percentage of our juvenile respondents re-offend. From the community's
perspective, Youth Court is an effective tool for reducing crime and dealing
effectively with kids just starting out on a criminal path.
From the court's perspective, the time devoted in creating and maintaining a youth court
is time well spent. Although such a court probably does not provide tremendous
relief to the regular court's juvenile caseload, there is still be a
significant number of cases diverted to Youth Court, which may lighten the regular
juvenile docket. More importantly, the reduced recidivism rate and the
educational aspects of our LAYC as described above, or either alone, justifies
our Youth Court program.
Vanessa Ouellette, Student Representative to LYAC from Edward Little High School: Youth Court, a system of
restorative justice run by youth and for youth, is extremely valuable in
holding youth accountable for their actions in a manner that reduces the
recidivism rate among the teenage population. Whereas many youth feel that they
are just being pushed through the Juvenile Justice system, the goal of Youth
Court is to make the judicial system useful and meaningful to youth in order
that they would learn from their mistakes. Youth Court also gives individuals a
chance to correct their behavior before they become subject to constant crimes
and become mainstream judicial subjects. This system serves as a second chance
for these youth by allowing them, once they have completed their disposition in
its entirety, to have their record cleaned of their crime, serving as a renewal
of their lives for their new potential in society.
In the courtroom youth can expect to witness a tribunal of entirely youth participants
as well as a bailiff, court clerk, defense attorney, and prosecution attorney
consisting of trained Youth Court participants. After hearing the evidence,
openings, and closings of the case, the tribunal recesses to reach a
disposition for the respondent (defendant) in the case. This process of
reaching a disposition is done exclusively by the Youth Court participants
unless additional help or information is needed. Typically the dispositions
consist of community service, letters of apology, and essays on the effect of
their crime on the community.
Contact Information
Richard Kendall
207 Stevens Mill Road
Auburn, ME 04210
207-783-7324
slaggy@aol.com
National Youth Court Center
c/o American Probation and Parole Association
P.O. Box 11910
Lexington, KY 40578-1910
Phone: 859-244-8193
Fax: 859-244-8001
Email: nycc@csg.org
Website: http://www.youthcourt.net
Youth website: http://www.ycyouth.net
